In optical transport networks according to the ITU-T G.709 standard “optical transport network (OTN)” (http://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-G.709/), optical multiplex signals are transmitted with optical frequencies or wavelengths according to the ITU-T G.694.1 standard “DWDM frequency grid” (http://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-G.694.1/) (dense wavelength division multiplex, DWDM). The optical transport network (OTN) is a technology standardized by the ITU in the standard G.709 for a telecommunication network by means of which network providers transmit user data by means of a transport service. The architecture of the optical transport network can generally be divided into three optical layers. The lowermost layer, the optical transmission section (OTS), describes the optical fiber path between two optical system components. These can be optical amplifiers (OA), optical add drop multiplexers (OADM) or optical crossconnects (OXC). The layer thereon, the optical multiplex section (OMS), comprises the multiplex functions of a DWDM connection between two network nodes. The uppermost layer, the optical channel layer (OCh), describes the optical channel between two optical terminal points. In such a channel, any user data can be transmitted. Standardized adaptation functions allow the transmission of Ethernet and IP frames without previous PHD or SHD framing.
Presently available DWDM systems with 96 DWDM channels with 50 GHz channel bandwidth per channel can transmit 100 Gbit/s signals over >3000 km in the optical C band (center band) (http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/optical/ps5724/ps2006/data_sheetc78-713296.html).
The C band is substantially determined by the optical amplification bandwidth of the optical erbium doped fiber amplifiers (EFDA). These DWDM systems can comprise, in addition to the optical band and channel multiplexers and demultiplexers and the optical amplifiers, also reconfigurable optical add drop multiplexers (ROADM), so that comprehensive and complex meshed glass fiber networks can be set up.
So far, only DWDM systems of one vendor are used for setting up an optical network because the different complex functions and controlling processes must be controlled within the DWDM network via vendor-pure DWDM technology by means of corresponding management systems, which are mostly vendor-specific. A connection of different DWDM systems of different vendors, i.e. the connection of different DWDM systems to different management systems, has so far not been intended.
Therefore, there is the need for providing new methods and systems for optical transport networks, in particular for connecting different DWDM systems to different management systems.